


Spontaneous Fantasy

by woodentarantula



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternative Universe - Mikari Nikki, People Will Die, Tags Subject to Change as the story progresses, all major characters are going to show up eventually, characters tagged by appearance, don't have to be familiar with mirai nikki to enjoy, person will die literally chapter one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26603371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodentarantula/pseuds/woodentarantula
Summary: A swirling blue room, twelve participants in a murder game, and one future telling device per player. Add to pot and let simmer over several months. Will produce one (1) new god of causality.Ren Amamiya finds himself Player 1 in a Battle Royale for all the powers of a god and he is scrambling for steady ground. Pacts will be made, promises will be broken, and much, much blood will be spilled.
Kudos: 6





	1. Logbook

After the last bell of class, after half the students had filtered out of the room, after Ren Amamiya had already started packing his things into his bag, someone walks up to his desk.

“Hey,” the kid says. Ren’s never spoken to him more than a greeting, but he knows his name is Yuuki Mishima. “You’re going to die today.” he grins, happy and bubbly and impish all at once and it makes Ren’s stomach churn. “I wanna help you change that.”

Yeah, Ren should dart away, he should say he has to run to the bathroom and actually grab a teacher and have this kid put in an asylum. But --and that’s a big but in his head. But Ren’s been having strange dreams the past few weeks. But his phone where he’s been recording daily conversations he has with perfect strangers out of pure boredom has started writing itself, has had time stamps ten, twenty, thirty minutes into the future. He should run for cover from this Mishima kid but instead he nods. “What do you suggest?”

In response, Mishima shows Ren his phone. “I don’t know what yours does, but my phone’s been telling me all the actions of our classmates, and it says you’re going to die on the roof. I say we go up there and meet the person coming for you head on, and kill them before they kill you.”

Ren glaces at the phone in front of him. Sure enough, it says it plainly: Ren Amamiya dies; the roof is closed off for the foreseeable future. Ren checks his own phone and sees the bold, all caps, BAD END that confirms it. It’s what’s right above that that bothers him. “Why do you want to help me?”

“You know the rules of this game, right? I don’t really wanna be a god, so why bother trying to win? Might as well help someone else succeed, right!” Mishima smiles brightly.

Ren glances back at his phone. 

_3:20 Mishima talked to me after class. He wants to help me win the game._

_3:35 Mishima is saying weird stuff. I don’t like this._

_3:40_ **_BAD END_ **

“Yeah, that sounds good to me.” 

As they climb the steps, Ren thinks about the dreams. The room draped in blue. The weird twin girls. The huge caricature of a man that called himself Igor and said he would give Ren something interesting to do with his life. True, Ren moved to Tokyo half way through the school year, so he’s not in any clubs, but he never cared about sports or art or anything like that. So what was he going to do with his life? He’s in high school; isn’t that time supposed to be for coasting till he has to make it to college?

He agreed, though, that’s the thing. He agreed for this bobblehead of a man to put him in some crazy game before he even heard the rules or that he was player number 1. It’s like something from a comic book, or some fucked up video game. Smartphone that predicts the future with near 100% accuracy? Check. Super exclusive battle royal where everyone’s identities are hidden? Check. Pact making, deception and preparing to fight for your life on day one? Checkity check check.

Ren grips the handles on his school bag tighter. Preparing. Igor had explained the rules to him in his dream last night, but he still thought it was just a night terror. He heard those can be serial sometimes? Dreams that follow a plot, that happen one after the other and you keep your memory of the ones that came before. But no, he woke up to his normal journal entries for the morning already written, that said the same halfhearted greetings that his mum and dad said when he tumbled down the stairs for breakfast. So Ren left the house early to make a stop at the grocery store. Ya'know, self checkouts can be pretty dangerous.

So when, after what feels like hours, they make it to the roof, Ren pushes a breath through his lungs like it might be his last. “You said you don’t really want to win the game. You’re okay with dying then?”

“Of course not! But there’s not really another choice, is there?” Mishima has dumped his school bag on the ground and is rifling through it now. It’s a mess of notebooks and loose papers, an opened pencil bag spills out as he shuffles everything around. 

“Yeah, I guess not.” Ren tries not to watch him too closely, but keep him in his peripheral as he stares at the door onto the roof, pretending he’s waiting for the killer to come up after them. But they’re not, is the thing. He knows the killer’s not behind that door but right next to him. Ren clutches his bag tighter. His bag, with the steak knife that he bought this morning, his bag with his only form of defense in it. “Either you win or you die. Guess if being a god isn’t your thing, you’re out of luck.” 

“I gotta agree with you on that one.” Mishima says as he finds what he was looking for in his bag, tangled in his gym clothes and old notes. He snaps to a standing position, arm outstretched, the hand at the end clutching a very real, solid looking pistol. “And I’m not looking to die.”

Ren grits his teeth, but he can’t move. He really did bring a knife to an actual gunfight and he’s about to kick himself if he could just move. He’s gonna get shot no matter what, but if he can do anything he can talk his way out of it. “But you just said-”

“I was lying.” Mishima shouts. He hurls the words at Ren like poorly constructed snowballs, exploding open on Ren's chest. His face cracks in a wicked grin and he has a delighted look in his eye. “Of course I don’t want to lose. I’ve lost at everything else in life, why would I try to lose at something else? You’ve only been here a week and even you can see I have no friends, but who needs friends when you’re a god who can control time and space.” Mishima cocks the gun. “I can’t believe you fell for that. I mean, you’re not top of the class or anything but I thought you’d at least-”

And that’s what Ren needed. This kid to talk for too long, the door to the roof slams open, a girl standing in the frame. “Drop the gun now, Yuuki Mishima.”

“What?” Mishima says, caught between a yell and a gasp. He shifts his aim toward where he’s looking, at the girl’s head and it gives Ren the opening to drop his bag tackle him. 

Ren’s not particularly strong but Mishima is skinny and wiry and he goes down easy. His face hits the pavement, but he clutches the gun in his hand too hard to let go of it. The girl from the door rushes over, stomps down on Mishima’s wrist to make him loosen his grip and she kicks the gun away. 

“His phone.” She barkes. Ren manages to hold Mishima down with his knees and pull his phone out of his uniform pocket. It’s a cheap flip phone in a sickly green that Ren hands over to the girl and she throws it on the ground. She pulls something shiny out of her pocket- knuckle dusters- slips it on her hand fast as lightning and punches the phone to pieces in an instant. 

Mishima’s body under Ren shudders. He cries out and the lines that make up his form wobble and shake, eventually twisting till it’s nothing and Ren’s knees hit the concrete where his classmate once was. 

“What was that?” Ren asks and before the girl manages to answer him, he hears her collapse, his own body falling along with hers and his eyes slipping closed. 

When he opens his eyes, he sees the blue draped room from his dreams, but it’s different. Before, it was like a doctor’s waiting room, just lines of chairs in front of a desk, the man called Igor sitting behind it while the two assistants stand by his sides. Now though, he stands in a ring, the front of which is centered around the room’s master. The other figures in the ring are obscured, silhouettes with barely any definition to them. 

“Congratulations.” Igor says. “To our first victor in our little game. Or shall I say victors, number one and number six?”

Ren nods. 'Cause what else can he do. He just killed a guy, a classmate of his, and he’s being congratulated on it. Well, he didn’t do the killing but he sure helped.

Ren looks around, manages to find a figure that could possibly be the girl from the rooftop, number six. The hair’s the same, and the body type, so it could be her, but with these obscure shapes he can’t be sure. 

“Just to ensure all participants are on the same page so to speak, I wanted to hold this meeting after the first kill.” Igor’s voice fills the entire room, which, as it seems endless on every side, is quite a feat. “Especially as all the players have been chosen, you may now see what you’re up against.”

Looking around, there’s not as many people as Ren would expect in this kind of game. “Twelve talented individuals stand before me, each unhappy with their current life in some way. Each of you wanting to change. I realize now that not every participant may want the winning prize I have set forth so I shall add another option if you are to win.” Igor’s face is split in a smile, only slightly obscured by his huge nose and only a tad overshadowed by his bulging eyes. It reminds Ren of Mishima just a few moments ago. “If the one who wins does not wish to replace me as God of Causality, they may ask for a boon. A request that only I may grant.”

A feminine figure seems to flip her hair over her shoulder. “What does that even mean? Do you have, like, an example?”

Igor chuckles and it reverberates around the room, almost making Ren lose his balance and fall. “Well, number four, I am certain that everyone in this room has regrets. Perhaps the winning individual would like to change something in their past. Make it so something never happened, or that something did indeed happen. Does that make sense now?”

The girl nods, somehow seeming brighter even as a shadow. “Yep! I think I got it.”

Another voice pipes up and this time Ren knows for sure that it’s the girl that put her fist through a phone just a moment ago. “What I don’t understand is how are we supposed to kill each other if we don’t even know who’s playing. I mean, do we all even live in the same city? The same country?”

“That is a very good question number six. I assure you that all of the players reside in the same city of Tokyo. In fact, the majority of you live in adjacent neighborhoods. As for how to know whose playing, your diaries shall assist you.”

A snicker comes from right next to ms. knuckle duster. “Yeah Six, though maybe you aren’t as lucky to get such a good information gathering diary as me.”

“This is no time for bickering, number seven. All of the diaries are unique in both the information that they give you and whose future they tell. Some give you information on the other players, some give you information on what you yourself will do, some give very general information that can be applied to the game in some way.” 

A light chuckle patters out from across the room, this time definitely a guy’s. Funny, nothing about this place really screams comedy to Ren but everyone seems to be laughing anyway. “It’s a mystery then. I suppose it’s not only the best killer, but the best detective that will win.”

Another girl’s voice rings out. “But nothing shall be solved if you don’t make the right moves. What a delightful game. I cannot wait to meet all of you.” And with that her shadow disappears, simply fading from sight.

“Indeed.” Igor says after a pause. “I suppose that ends our meeting. You are all dismissed.” And with that, one by one the shapes in the room vanish, and Ren opens his eyes again to the walls of the nurses office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading chapter one! As school is going strong for me, updates may be sporadic but I greatly appreciate any kind words and feedback. Will also make sure to update tags as chapters are posted, but preemptively added a few characters that will be showing soon.


	2. Tattletale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which arguments are made, numbers are met, and naps are had.

Ren looks to his right. Wall. Ren looks to his left. Girl staring at the ceiling with an expression like stone. Maybe she’s thinking about the shadowy people in the room in their shared dream. Maybe she’s thinking of the best way to kill Ren. Maybe she’s constipated.

“Look.” The girl says to the ceiling. “I’m not going to kill you here.”

“Did your diary tell you that?” Ren says, not being able to help being snarky, not even in this situation.

“No, I’m not going to kill you because I’m not an idiot like Mishima.” She takes her phone out of her pocket and shows Ren the notes app. Sure enough, there’s the entries there, with timestamps far in the future. 

_3:25 Yuuki and Amamiya go to the rooftop. The rooftop is prohibited._

_3:40 Yuuki pulls a gun out and shoots Amamiya. Weapons are prohibited. Violence on school campus is prohibited._

And before his eyes, the last entry changes, the letters swirling and scrambling before settling.

_3:35 Yuuki and Amamiya go to the rooftop. Rooftop access is prohibited to students._

_3:40 Yuuki pulls a gun out on Amamiya. Weapons are prohibited._

_3:42 Niijima goes out on the rooftop and breaks Yuuki’s phone with knuckle dusters, killing him. Rooftop access is prohibited to students. Weapons are prohibited. Violence on school campus is prohibited._

“Three diary holders in our school, two of the diaries centered around the school: mine and Mishima’s. There is a very likely chance that another of the diary users goes to our school. You heard the people talking in the room?” Ren nods like it’s an actual question even though it’s not. “They sounded pretty young, right?” Ren nods again. “That girl specifically, the first one, number four. She sounded about our age. So why would I ever kill someone on school property?”

Ren starts nodding a third time and stops himself, shakes his head, ends up confusing himself. “Yeah, no, that makes sense. That’s… really well thought out.”

“Thank you,” the girl says, closing her eyes serenely and putting her phone away. “My diary shows me all suspicious activity on campus, so don’t think you can try anything on me.”

Ren hums in agreement. “I’d hate to be on the wrong side of your fists.” He slides his phone out of his pocket, bringing up his own notes where he kept his journal.

“Hmph. No you would not.”

_4:05 Makoto tells me how her diary works. What does she have to gain from telling me?_

_4:08 The nurse dismisses us. Tells us to go home and rest._

_4:12 Old woman says hello o-_

He clicks his phone off and slides it back into his pocket. Nothing vastly interesting anymore. At least his bad end is gone, but he has the other players to worry about, even if the one in front of him has said she won’t kill him. “Oh hey, what’s your name?”

The girl glances up at him. “Oh yeah, you’re new.” She rises to a sitting position, dusts off her skirt and holds out her hand. “I’m Makoto Niijima, nice to meet you.”

“Ren Amamiya.” He remains lying down as he shakes the hand. It’s soft and cold, well moisturized and poorly circulated. 

“I know.” she replies. “You’re in class 2D. I’m in 3A.”

“Of course you are, Ms. Student Council President.” Ren mumbles. 

“That may have been a joke, but you’re correct.” She preens, combing her hair behind her ears and straightening her skirt yet again. “I worked for that position and I’m quite proud of it.”

“Sounds like you two are awake,” the nurse appears, saving Ren from this conversation. “Why don’t you both head home and get some rest. I’m sure you’ll both feel better in the morning.”

Makoto puts on a playfully curious face. “Did you see Mishima? He was up on the roof with us when we… collapsed.”

The nurse shrugs. “Nope, just the two of you.” 

Their walk home is made all the worse when they have to go to the same train station, the same route, the same train. Blissfully, Makoto walks the opposite side of the street and when she does board, walks into a completely different compartment. More than anything else right now, Ren wants to not talk to a single person for the rest of the day and maybe even get a nap in before he has to do his homework. The world and causality as a whole makes it apparent to him that that is not in fact what is going to happen when he finally reaches his house and leaning against the mailbox is a girl about his age.

“Hey,” she says, “invite me in. I wanna talk.”

What the fuck else can he do. He nods and she loops an arm around his and follows him to the door. When they come in, his mother sees, nods, mumbles something like “oh, brought a girl over” and leaves them be. Of all the times that Ren would actually appreciate being accosted by his mother with demands of how his day was, they are left to their own devices, teens to their toys.

As soon as they get to Ren’s room, the girl sits on his bed and checks her nails. “I’m Ann Takamaki, number four.” 

Ren had actually recognized her by her silhouette. Her hair has a specific outline, huge and wavy like no one he’s ever seen- in person at least. She looks like a foreign movie star and she’s made herself right at home, kicking her feet up on the little table Ren uses for studying. 

When Ren doesn’t actually reply, Ann flashes her phone screen at him. “Social Media Diary, tells me anything that’s gonna be talked about and, God, is a student at Shujin disappearing gonna be talked about.” She drums her painted nails on the case, acrylic on acrylic. “So, I think you already get that these diaries are waaay personalized, yeah?” Ren nods for approximately the thousandth time that afternoon. “Alright, and you can prolly guess that I’m not crazy about you and Six hogging the spotlight. I want you-” she stands up, jabs a couple of her acrylics to Ren’s chest, “to stay out of my way. Too many of us go to the same school and I don’t like that. You better give me some space-- or you’ll get trampled.”

“I get it.” Ren bites out, refusing to step back from Ann’s gaze. “Six gave me the same speech.”

“Good.” She grins a wicked grin like it is genuinely good news. “Then you know to keep your head down.” She then glances to the side. “You want me to escape out your window?”

“What? Why?”

She shrugs. “I’ve seen it in movies, ya’know? People sneak in and out of bedrooms to hide from parents.”

“My mum already saw you. It’d make more sense if you just left normally.”

“Boring.” she huffs as she stuffs her phone in her school bag. “Whatever then.” And she leaves just as quickly as she came. The only evidence that she’s not a ghost and didn’t evaporate the second she exited the room is a cheerful “bye now!” from Ren’s mother and the reply “bye-bye” from Ann.

Ren throws himself on his bed. Somehow he needs that nap even more but the smell of Ann’s hair spray hangs thick, vanilla sugar cookie and chlorofluorocarbons crawling in his throat and threatening to choke. 

Eventually, though, he does manage to drift off, darkness coming in over his eyes but even then he isn’t allowed a moment’s rest. 

The blue room comes again, this time back to the office look of chairs lined up in front of a desk. An interview or a firing, Ren can only hope for a pink slip. The girls on either side of the desk stare at him, one with a single, angry eye and one with its twin, as their boss, master, lord of everything that happens looks on passively with bulging eyes like an abused chew toy.

“Bad news.” Igor opens with, “A good start leads to you being watched. What will you do with all eyes watching?”

“Bide time.” Is Ren’s instant response.

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” he waves a hand dismissively . “Everyone else seems way more into this, I’ll just let them kill each other for a while so there’s less of them to deal with.”

Igor laughs, easily filling the now tiny room fit to burst with the sound. “And how do you know the first target isn’t you?”

Ren shrugs. “I’m not interesting. I barely did any of the work with Mishima, Makoto is going to get targeted long before me and who knows, maybe with two student disappearances they’ll close down the school, send us all somewhere else.”

Igor nods, eyes closed and grins his omnipresent grin. “Perhaps. What a… safe method. Certainly not very entertaining for the moment, but will serve its purpose for the beginning of our game.”

“Yeah.” Ren jabs a thumb behind him. “Can I go back to sleep now?”

“Oh yes,” Igor waves a hand, dismissing Ren. “Whatever you like. I’ve got more numbers to meet with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long time between updates! My semester is winding down so hopefully the next bit will come a fair bit faster. Thanks so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading chapter one! As school is going strong for me, updates may be sporadic but I greatly appreciate any kind words and feedback. Will also make sure to update tags as chapters are posted, but preemptively added a few characters that will be showing soon.


End file.
